ALICE IN WONDERLAND (2010) REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

In 1951, Walt Disney brought Lewis Carroll's classic story, Alice In Wonderland, to the silver screen by using beautiful animation. It has since then become one of Disney's most well-known animated films.
59 years later, Tim Burton, one of cinema's most creative directors, gives us his take on Wonderland. Even if Burton's name wasn't above the title, I'd still guess it was one of his films. Everything about this film just screams Burton: the outstanding visuals; the dark tone of the film and the fact that both Johnny Depp (who he has worked with since Edward Scissorhands in 1990) and Helena Bonham Carter (his partner) have leading parts. Fortunately, that's not a bad thing. I can't imagine anyone else other than Burton creating a successful Wonderland film as well as him. Like I mentioned earlier, this film does have a dark and intense setting despite its PG rating so I wouldn't recommend this film to young children.
Alice (Mia Wasikowska), an unpretentious and individual 19-year-old, is betrothed to a dunce of an English nobleman. At her engagement party, she escapes the crowd to consider whether to go through with the marriage and falls down a hole in the garden after spotting an unusual rabbit (voice of Michael Sheen). Arriving in a strange and surreal place called "Underland," she finds herself in a world that resembles the nightmares she had as a child, filled with talking animals, villainous queens and knights, and frumious bandersnatches. Alice realizes that she is there for a reason: to conquer the horrific Jabberwocky (voice of Christopher Lee) and restore the rightful queen to her throne.
I think this is a really interesting twist on the classic story. Alice has grown up a lot since her first encounter in Wonderland and has become a lot more mature. In this film, we see her standing up for herself which makes her a likable protagonist. Wasikowska gives a strong performance as Alice.
Unfortunately, many things have changed since Alice last visited Wonderland. With the Red Queen (Bonham Carter) taking over, it has turned into Underland, a much more darker place. However, Alice, with the help of the Mad Hatter (Depp), is willing to defeat the Red Queen and bring back Wonderland.
One of the main reasons I enjoyed watching this was because of it stand out performances. Not one actor falters. Depp is, as usual in Burton's films, brilliant as the Mad Hatter. His incredible makeup stands out and so does his performance. Bonham Carter is terrifying as the Red Queen. This is mainly due to her large head (created using CGI) and her deafening exclamations. In my opinion, the Queen of Hearts from the animation is calm compared to her portrayal. Anne Hathaway plays the Red Queen's sister, the White Queen. I loved Hathaway's performance because she was the complete opposite of her sister. She is delicate and light hearted. Recognisable voices include Alan Rickman as the wise Absolem the Caterpillar; Stephen Fry as the Cheshire Cat; Christopher Lee as the Jabberwocky and Barbara Windsor as the Dormouse.

I think that this film has a lot more depth than the original adaptation and the characters are all well developed, especially Alice.

Overall, this is a brilliant take on one of the most well known stories with strong performances from every actor involved.

7/10